


Mac and Jack

by PlayfulMay



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M, Late Night Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 11:21:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6421933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayfulMay/pseuds/PlayfulMay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac and Jack are waiting for Phryne to arrive while they enjoy a few harmless drinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mac and Jack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gaslightgallows (hearts_blood)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearts_blood/gifts).



Mac and Jack were already a few drinks in - both lounging in Phryne's parlour, waiting for the woman of the hour who had yet to show up. They had kept each other company for a quiet first half an hour, and relaxed considerably after their drinks had settled.

"Well if she's not here in another ten minutes, I'll wring her neck myself," Mac chuckled, kicking off her shoes so haphazardly it had Jack relaxing all the more. Phryne's house could be intimidating in all of its refinery, but seeing Mac curl up on one of the chairs across from the couch has his mind at ease.

They grumbled their disappointment that Phryne was not often on time for such meetings until Jack had downed the last of his third drink and went to place it on the mantle.

Mac took the opportunity to speak to him on a more serious matter: "So, Inspector ... she hasn't reeled you into her wild charms? I must say I'm surprised. And impressed. Most men make it about an hour."

Jack breathed with laughter, leaning on the mantle and looking out to the red-headed doctor: "And how about women?"

Hmm. So he could dish it out just as eloquently as he could take it. Mac grinned and raised her glass to him.

"Touché. But it was never like that between Phryne and I."

"However did you manage that?" Jack teased, reading Mac very carefully to be sure he wasn't over-stepping. The looseness brought on by the scotch didn't hurt, either.

"Not for lack of her efforts," Mac chuckled, taking another large sip of her drink which told Jack it wasn't a story she was willing to tell him just then.

Instead of prying, Jack cast his eyes around the room, and voiced his thoughts: "She could have forgotten."

"To meet with me for dinner AND you afterwards?" Mac chortled, clearly unbothered by the absence of her friend. Jack reasoned it might just have had something to do with the drinks - how many had she had?

"Have you been here since dinner?" He was surprised by her devotion until she elaborated.

"Oh, hell no. I stopped by and when I heard she was running late, I went shopping and picked up some dinner with another friend."

The way Mac grinned into her next sip had Jack imagining that "dinner" was perhaps code for something else.

"Yeah, all that, and still Mr. Butler tried to feed me when I arrived back," Mac continued, laughing. "Still not here, as it turns out."

"I'm starting to worry," Jack said, comforted by the warmth of his drink relaxing him completely. He figured he should have been worried earlier, but Mac was quick to reassure him.

"Don't you dare. I'll bet you anything she's out on the town gambling or dancing or something."

"Anything?" Jack teased - uncharacteristically insinuating.

It had Mac playfully scowling at him from across the room. "Don't YOU go trying to steal me away now."

"Teaches Phryne for being so damned late," Jack cursed under his breath, looking down to the fireplace with exhaustion. He really did miss her, and hated terribly when she seemed so uncaring.

Mac had the most perfect, drunken idea as she watched the torture on the poor man's face. Teaching Phryne a lesson wasn't the worst idea, and suddenly a plan came to mind.

It was a plan that had them scurrying when Phryne's car pulled into the driveway to make believe as though they had become romantic in Miss Fisher's absence.

Phryne hurried up the steps, just having remembered her meeting with Jack. She knew better than to think Mac would wait around aggravated, but Jack might very well have become angry toward her tardiness.

She let herself in, and called out immediately: "Jack?! Hello?"

It was a voice and pitch the troublesome two were not expecting to hear, and when it sounded through the house, they rolled off of the couch in surprise. Mac - in the process of the tumble - kneed Jack in the groin.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, trying desperately not to laugh in all of her drunken stupor as he groaned and curled into a semi-seated position. "I'm sorry - I'm not used to this appendage!" Mac snorted, bracing her hands across his thighs to keep herself from falling over in a fit of laughter.

"... I'm sorry to keep you waiting!" Phryne continued from the hall, pulling open the parlour doors to a startling sight. There laid Jack on the floor with Mac draped over him - looking as though they'd been tumbling around together. And was Jack holding his groin? "Well ... THIS is new."

"I can explain," Jack rasped, trying to get up with the pain gripping at his torso.

"Ah, don't bother," Mac chuckled, not even bothering to get up. "Hey, Phryne - give me a hand."

Phryne could only laugh. She laughed so hard she almost keeled over herself, eventually taking pity on Jack's obvious pain as she offered him her hand.

"What about me?" Mac complained like a child, laughing when Phryne stuck her tongue out and ignored her pleas.

"So you were getting fresh with her and she kneed you, is that it?" Phryne teased, watching him roll his eyes in exasperation.

"Hey," Mac interrupted from the floor, laughing for absolutely no reason. "How many times have I told you that if I ever DID need to sleep with a man-"

"Alright, drunky," Phryne called out over Mac's voice to stop the doctor from admitting something entirely damning. "Let's get you upstairs."

"I just need help up," Mac chuckled, accepting Phryne's hand to pull herself to her feet. "There we go ... right as rain."

"If the clouds rain highly concentrated alcohol," Phryne teased, glancing back to Jack as if to apologize for her momentary absence after arriving so late. "I'll be right back."

Instead of wait patiently fire-side, Jack slowly followed the two friends, and rested his hands on his hips at the adorable picture Mac and Phryne made giggling together.

"Don't you dare try to help me," Mac scolded playfully, holding onto the railing. "I'm not as drunk as you think. I can walk myself."

"I'm just making sure you don't fall," Phryne smirked, trailing closely behind her before Jack couldn't simply watch any longer. He went up the stairs behind Phryne and motioned her aside to imply he was better-suited to catch Mac. "Okay, Jack's behind you now. Just be careful."

Mac turned to see that he was, and she chuckled again with her hand darting out to his chest - grinning: "Jack ... this is a little strange ... a little too much for me at the moment. I can do this just fine myself, thank you, Inspector."

Phryne had her eyebrows lifted at Mac's use of "Jack," as if she's earned the right to use the familiar name. Jack, however, was on the brim of laughter himself, gesturing up the stairs.

"Well, I'm not leaving, so the sooner you climb the stairs, the sooner this will all be some ridiculous story of hte past."

"Fair enough," Mac snorted, eventually finding her way up the stairs and down the hall to find a bed while Jack shook his head with a smile and headed back down the stairs.

"You sure you don't want to follow her to bed?" Phryne teased mercilessly, leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs - grinning wickedly.

Jack could only laugh, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs to walk right past her and into the parlour.

"Jack, I really AM sorry for arriving so late," she said gently, watching him relax on the sofa he'd fallen off just earlier. At the thought of the incident, Phryne sat beside him and looked down into his lap. "I hate to think you've succumb to ... any _injury _in my absence ..."__

__"Phryne-"_ _

__"What? I'm worried - you were really writhing in pain when I walked in," she said a little too affectionately for his liking._ _

__"Yes, well ... serves me right for trying to teach you any lesson, I suppose."_ _

__"And Mac is left unscathed," Phryne muttered with all the playfulness and mischief Jack had always admired about her. "I have the perfect idea."_ _

__"No, no. No more ideas tonight," Jack laughed. "You two are more trouble than I can manage at the moment."_ _

__"Oh alright," Phryne pouted in that sultry shade of lipstick that always distracted him, "But only if you'll forgive me, Jack."_ _

__"I forgive you," he smiled, "But the next time you're late, I'm leaving."_ _

__"Understood."_ _

__"And the next time Mac gets the grand idea to roll around with me, I'm declining."_ _

__Phryne bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing: "Probably wise, Jack ... she's not the most delicate toward handsy men ... although she seems to have something of a soft spot for you."_ _

__"Don't start with me," he sighed, admiring the glow of the room when he turned and noticed the warm glow in Phryne's eyes._ _

__"It's not your fault even a woman of sapphic inclination finds you catching ..."_ _

__"Yes, explain to me how she's more interested in me than you."_ _

__"I think it has to do with your very refined patience and sense of gentlemanly restraint."_ _

__Jack lifted a brow, and Phryne knew she'd been caught confessing her own feelings about him._ _

__"You do? And this restraint can be appealing, can it? Care to explain, Miss Fisher?"_ _

__It was the first time Jack had seen Phryne stricken completely and utterly speechless._ _


End file.
